Honeyed Banana
Snack
Recipe
While not everyone likes bananas, for those of us who do they are a lightweight, sugary and easy to make snack that requires little effort and very few ingredients.
If you want your bananas crispy then use the recipe for Banana Chips. However if you like your bananas on the chewy side with even less preparation effort then this is the recipe for you.
The addition of honey may be overkill for some people as it does increase the sweetness on what is already a sweet snack. The lime juice doesn’t have as much impact on the taste that lemon juice will but does help to stop the bananas from discolouring too much during the drying process.
This recipe is designed for a food dehydrator however if you don’t own one then you can use a fan forced oven at a very low temperature (55-60° Celcius).
Approximate Calorie content
- 11 small-medium bananas peeled and raw is around 860 grams
- 11 small-medium bananas-dried and cut in half is around 200 grams
- Approximate calories per 100 grams: 563 calories
Ingredients
11 Medium Bananas peeled (100 grams each)
1 cup Lime juice
2 tablespoons Honey
Preparation Instructions
- Peel 11 small-medium sized ripe bananas
- Cut the bananas in half lengthways
- Pour the lime juice and honey into a shallow baking dish. I find that microwaving the honey for about 10 seconds first makes pouring it into the lime juice easier
- Dip the cut bananas into the lime/honey mixture. Ensure both side are coated with the liquid. This minimises the browning on the bananas as well as providing a slight tang. Place on the dehydration rack over the sink for a few minutes to allow any excess liquid to drain off. Do this away from the dehydrator heating mechanism to minimise any mess
- Assemble the food dehydrator. I recommend having an empty rack on the bottom to allow for a more even flow of air
- Heat to approximately 55-60° Celcius (medium setting) for around 4-6 hours then turn the bananas over. Take your time to minimise breaking the pieces
- Heat for a further 5-6 hours
- Once the banana slices have a leathery texture allow to cool and store in a airtight container in the cupboard. The bananas will appear a bit limp to start with but as they cool the texture will firm
- 11 smallish bananas peeled weigh around 860 grams. Dried this weight changes to 200 grams
- Pack in a ziplock back before use
Honeyed banana ingredients, simple but effective
Bananas peeled and ready to prepare
Bananas cut in half and soaking in lime juice and honey. They need to stay in long enough to coat the whole banana
Honeyed Banana placed on the drying rack ready to dehydrate. Put the rounded side down first to minimise the banana sticking to the drying rack surface. Ensure the bananas don’t touch each other otherwise they stick together
Half way through the drying process, about six hours, turn over and condense the trays as the drying bananas will take up less space
Honeyed bananas ready to remove from the drying rack
Honeyed bananas dried and ready to eat. Note the slight sheen on the bananas from the honey